Interviews

One of the main distinctions in research on decision making concerns the availability of information to a decision maker. In so-called ‘small worlds’, all alternatives, consequences, and probabilities are known. In so-called ‘large worlds’,...

Heuristics are simple strategies that allow a decision maker to reach a decision quickly and with little effort. While most people view heuristics as 'second class citizens' compared to optimized algorithmic solutions. In this...

How are heuristics helpful in real-word situations? Dr. Gigerenzer describes how simple heuristics can improve medical decision making over much more complex solutions. By ignoring much of the available information, simple heuristics often are...

Against popular belief, there are instances where simple heuristics are not only faster and easier to apply, but they can reliably outperform more complex and exhaustive algorithms. The reason for this is uncertainty of natural environments and the...